Let Go For Tonight
by justanothermarionette
Summary: 2nd season AU after the curse breaks. Regina and an original female character that shares characteristics with Robin Hood. Therefore, Robin Hood will NOT be in this story. This FEMSLASH. Regina is looking for a safe place after the curse has broken and she finds her magic is not returned to her. She seeks out the curious woman, Robin Lockesly, for a place to hide. Something stirs.


**AN: As I've said in the summary, this is a romance between Regina and a woman named Robin Lockesly, who shares many characteristics with the archer we all know, Robin Hood. So if any of that is off putting or unappealing, please don't read. I've already changed the summary for a guest reviewer who felt the story was improperly tagged. If you have concerns with the way it's tagged or are confused about anything, please private message me. I would love the reviews section to be constructive. For those of you who stay, I hope you enjoy this little AU taking place after the curse is broken. Have fun! And thank you so much for giving it a chance.**

* * *

**Let Go For Tonight, Chapter One: "Shades of Cool"**

In the late afternoon sun, sweat dripping from her pores, Robin slowed her quick pace when she spotted a car parked outside her cabin. She'd seen the black Mercedes plenty around town but never so far into the woods. And certainly never anywhere near her home. Of course, it wasn't as if Robin had never thought about having the mayor so close. In fact, she thought about it quite often. For something like twenty-eight years, she supposed. When the Savior broke the Dark Curse and the citizens of Storybrooke (or the Enchanted Forest) had regained their memories, Robin had spent the better part of a week in a drunken stupor, remembering when she'd met the Evil Queen, how Robin had fallen for her immediately, having no idea of who that woman was. She'd never concerned herself much with politics, which carried over to this new land. Robin had had no clue who the mayor of her town was, she just had a massive crush on Regina Mills. And, gods, when she'd told Ruby about that… Well, Ruby had certainly _not _been happy or supportive.

"_Are you fucking kidding me?" Ruby asked in a hushed but harsh voice._

"_No?" _

"_The mayor, really? The _mayor_." _

"_Oh, is she the mayor?"_

_Ruby looked at Robin like she was maybe a little slow. "Who did you think was the mayor?"_

_Robin just shrugged it off. "I honestly never thought about it." Her head tilted and a silly little grin tugged at her lips. "That kind of explains why she's always dressed the way she is. I mean, have you seen her-"_

"_STOP!'_

Looking back now, Robin figured that to have been about… well, twenty-eight years ago.

At any rate, Robin never once expected to find Mayor Mills at her cabin, no matter how many times she'd wished for it. Yet, when she rounded the last tree before the clearing she spotted the mayor herself sitting on the steps leading to the wrap-around porch.

"Madame Mayor." Regina's head shot up before she immediately stood and straightened out the few wrinkles in the back of her dress. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Without preamble, as usual, Regina demanded, "I need your house."

Robin could feel her eyebrows raise. She always had been more amused by the mayor than intimidated. "What do you need my house for?"

Regina zeroed in a glare on Robin and hesitated only a second before she tightly replied, "I would prefer you didn't ask any questions and I would _prefer _that you be absent for the duration of my stay."

"Is that right?" Robin asked and when Regina's glare only intensified, Robin laughed openly.

"_What_, pray tell, is so funny right now?"

"Well, really, what isn't funny about this?" Robin replied through her giggling.

"Miss Lockesly, the entire town wants my head hung over a big banner that says, 'Ding dong!' I am simply looking for a place to quietly think about how I can prevent that from happening, at least until I have my magic back."

After a long moment during which Robin wanted desperately to quite literally knock sense into some of the people here, she took control of her wandering thoughts and promised herself she'd put herself in their shoes. Later. "Ok. You can come in, but I'm not leaving."

"Miss Lockesly," the mayor started protesting immediately.

"No," Robin waved the woman off. "When they can't find you, if they don't calm the fuck down, a few people might not mind suggesting that I'd help you if I could."

Regina raised an eyebrow at that and Robin watched the movement intently. "And why would these people believe that I'd go to you in the first place?"

"They might not," Robin answered her eyes focusing back on to warm espresso ones. "But they know I'm a stubborn son of a bitch." _When it comes to you_, she mentally added.

"That, you truly are," Regina sighed out, exasperated. "I would really rather be alone, Miss Lockesly."

"Well, I built this house with my bare hands twenty-five years ago. You're not kicking me out."

"This was a bad idea," Regina murmured as she brushed passed Robin, seemingly on her way to her car.

Robin reacted quickly but fought hard to refrain from reaching out to touch the other woman's wrist. "Regina, just-" And when the woman spun back around to face Robin, she momentarily lost her words before starting over completely. "Look, Madame Mayor," she made sure to address the woman formally before she let herself get out of hand. "You're right. This is the only safe place for you in town. But part of what makes it safe is _me_." The brunette leaned all her weight on one leg, making her hip pop out, seemingly settling in to hear the woman out. "When they don't find you, I just wanna be here to make sure you're safe."

Regina's dark eyebrow arched again. "Why do you care if I'm safe?'

Robin let out a long sigh, feeling quite deflated as the woman in front of her poked a little hole in her usual charming façade. "Don't ask me that," she mumbled. "You've always known that."

They simply stared at each other for a long moment, sizing each other up, preparing for the next round, until Robin added lightly, "Plus I've got _a lot _of bourbon."

At that, a look crossed Regina's face that Robin recognized as impressed. The brunette straightened her posture and walked right passed Robin, up the steps and waited at the front door. "Thank you for the offer, Miss Lockesly."

Robin smirked, taking the small victory and jogging up the steps to open the door and gesturing for Regina to enter first. "After you, Madame Mayor."

* * *

A short time later found the two women sitting on the floor of Robin's cabin, each holding a warm tumbler in their hands, occasionally glancing at each other only to turn away, embarrassed at having nothing to say. For once. Robin, still in her running shorts and tank, and Regina, looking as perfect as ever. That was Robin's excuse for being so quiet, having the woman she lusted after looking like she was ready for a night out while Robin was still slightly sweaty from her earlier run.

An embarrassing noise rumbled from Robin's stomach and she tried to cover it up by clearing her throat, but the blush in her cheeks was already fairly intense and when she glanced at the mayor, the woman was smirking as she looked down into the amber liquid in her glass, swirling it around a little. So Robin simply cleared her throat yet again and shot up from her spot on the floor. "Are you hungry? I'm getting a little hungry."

"I'd noticed," Regina replied, her smirk deepening so that Robin caught sight of a dimple.

"Yeah, well, I haven't eaten in a while, ok?" Regina just nodded exaggeratedly, smirk in place, so Robin just sighed before continuing. "Do you like, um, cereal?" At that, Regina just looked up at her, clearly still _very _amused. "Shit, I think that's all I have." And Robin immediately left the room to where Regina assumed was the kitchen.

Just seconds later her guess was confirmed when she heard cabinet after cabinet slamming closed and a long, loud sigh. This made that smirk grown into a full blown, genuine smile. For some reason, and not for the first time, Regina couldn't help but find this Robin Lockesly quite endearing. Annoying most of the time, but nonetheless, it wasn't the first time the strawberry blonde had made the mayor smile like this. Not that Regina would _ever _admit to such nonsense.

The mayor quickly wiped that smile off her face and slipped right back into her cool façade when Robin reappeared in the doorway. "Cereal's all I've got," she said, looking somewhat ashamed of herself. "I'm really sorry. It's all good stuff, though."

"Cereal is hardly a proper dinner, Miss Lockesly."

"I know. I mean, I've got some noodles but I don't really know what to do with them."

Finally, Regina's eyes brightened. "Ah, I know what to do with them."

"What?"

"Why don't you shower while I prepare something, Miss Lockesly?"

Robin wanted to retort, say that if Regina would simply tell her what to do with the noodles, she could do it herself. But at just the mention of a shower, a reminder that she was basically covered in filth, she just blushed and nodded. "That sounds good."

Regina got up from her place on the floor and headed toward the kitchen. "Please, Miss Lockesly, I'm sure I can find my way around."

"Right," Robin replied. "Yeah. Well.. Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Oh, not at all. I quite enjoy cooking."

A smile tugged at the archer's lips. "Always something surprising about you, Madame Mayor."

If she hadn't been watching the woman so closely, Robin would have missed the slight pause as Regina reached to open the pantry cabinet. But the woman continued as if nothing had happened and said, "Your shower."

The smile then fell from Robin's lips. She made sure Regina was occupied and facing the other way before she lifted her arm and sniffed. Her face contorted slightly, but at least it wasn't that bad.

* * *

When Robin stepped out of the shower she instantly sighed at the delicious smell coming from her kitchen. It had never smelled like that before. She wasn't much of a cook herself, pretty much drawing the line at small game over an open fire outside. If she did say so herself, she always burned those to perfection. But it was nice to have different smells filling her home for once. She thought she could smell garlic and basil and something fresh from the garden a few yards from her front door.

When she reached the entryway to the kitchen, she stopped and quietly leaned against the wall to watch the other woman work. Robin mentally added 'cooking' to the long list of things Regina could make undeniably adorable. The brunette was standing on the very tips of her toes, struggling to put the salt back in the cabinet where she had found it, and Robin released a heavy sigh of frustration at herself. That finally caught Regina's attention so she spun around and planted her feet firmly back on the floor.

"Were you just watching?" she asked, eyebrow raising in irritation.

Robin smirked smugly and answered, "You're wearing heels so often I'd hardly realized how short you truly are."

Regina scoffed at that and said, "You're barely taller than me, Miss Lockesly. And I believe I'm a fairly average height for a woman."

"But only one of us is tall enough to put the salt back, Madame Mayor." And at that Robin started moving across the tiled floor toward the brunette, who had, of course, already turned back around to prove that she could put the damned salt away herself.

Before Robin could think too hard on it, she stopped just behind Regina, reaching over the woman's shoulder to take the salt from her slightly darker hand. The archer lifted herself slightly so that the heels of her feet were off the ground, barely brushing her midsection against the mayor's ass, er, lower back. _Oops_, Robin thought, as if the light touch hadn't been exactly what she wanted as soon as she saw the brunette reaching for the high shelf.

When the taller woman planted both her feet firmly back on the floor she looked down to see Regina slightly hunched over, defeated, possibly.

"Oh, come on, you're right. I'm only a few inches taller than you," Robin teased as she backed away to lean against another counter.

Robin worried for a moment when the woman's small form didn't move and the brunette had yet to speak. But then Regina cleared her throat, straightened herself out and turned around to face the other woman, her cool mask of indifference in place. "I honestly don't know how I managed to get it down in the first place."

Slightly confused by the sudden tension in the room, Robin figured another joke might do the trick. "Mayor Mills, were you climbing on my counters," she asked exaggeratedly.

Yet the mayor simply locked eyes with the blonde, glaring at her as she replied, "I most certainly was not." And at that the regal woman pivoted toward the stove and began serving herself a plate of spaghetti and red sauce.

"I was only teasing you," Robin pointed out but the other woman said nothing, simply bringing her plate to the dining table where there was a large bowl of fresh greens and sliced tomatoes, leaving a plate near the stove.

So Robin quietly served herself a helping of the delicious looking food before sitting in a seat on the opposite side of the table than Regina. "This all smells so good, Madame Mayor, thank you again."

"As I said, I enjoy cooking," was Regina's simple reply.

"I have lasagna at Granny's sometimes but this is pretty special for me. To have a home cooked meal, I mean."

"Granny's lasagna is frozen from a package."

"What?"

"Oh yes, Miss Lockesly. I'll have to make it for you sometime so you can truly taste the difference," Regina spoke lightly, as if her temporary sour mood hadn't happened at all. Robin was thankful for that, at least. Though she did wish to know what was to blame for the temperamental snapshot of Regina's terse mood. The blonde had thought they were having fun, almost. But she put it to the back of her mind in favor of this lighter side of the mayor.

"That's kind of disappointing," Robin replied, feigning hurt. Which apparently worked as the corners of Regina's red mouth twitched upward. And then Robin finally took her first bite of spaghetti. Her eyes went wide and she could not hold back her initial reaction to the delicious food. "Holy fuck!"

"Miss Lockesly," Regina said her best mayoral voice. "Please do try your best to use your words." The brunette looked a little nervous more than she was irritated at the language.

"Regina!" When the mayor raised her eyebrow and made a point of chewing her food exceptionally more slowly, Robin tried again. "Madame Mayor. Does anyone know you cook like this?"

"Henry," Regina replied quietly, blushing at the archer's implied compliment.

"Lucky kid," Robin smiled widely at the reverence she clearly heard in the mayor's voice.

* * *

The rest of dinner was shared in mutual, almost, comfortable, silence. Robin was happy with the infrequent casual glances that the two women shared. And seemingly, Regina was happy. Content, at the least.

Robin stood from the table, balancing her plate, Regina's plate and the empty salad bowl to bring to the sink. "Oh, Miss Lockesly, please-"

"No, no," Robin cut the mayor off. "You cooked. I'll clean." She shot her most charming closed-lipped smile at the brunette before turning around and settling the dishes into the sink basin.

"At least let me dry," Regina said, feeling uncomfortable with not lifting a finger to help.

"I'll leave them in the rack," Robin replied lightly. "This is the least I can do after the beautiful meal you made for us." Out of the corner of her eye, the blonde could see Regina move to the counter adjacent to the sink, looking terribly out of place and _fidgeting_. Robin's poor heart wouldn't be able to take much more of these new sides of the woman being exposed to her.

Smiling, Robin finally said, "There is a great bottle of red in the far cabinet, if you'd like to let it breathe for a bit?"

"Yes," Regina said and immediately jumped into action. "Is the bottle opener here or… Here it is."

The thought of the brunette woman becoming familiar with Robin's house made the blonde blush and clear her throat unnecessarily. But she was smiling a bright and genuine smile. _This woman will be the end of me_, she thought, only slightly worried.

"Will you truly not let me dry the dishes," Regina asked once the bottle was opened and the corkscrew put away.

"I will truly not let you _touch _the dishes, Madame Mayor," Robin replied before hearing a sigh come from behind her. "Look, I'm almost done, why don't you jump in the shower? The heat was excruciating today," she spoke without ever turning to face Regina for fear that her infatuation would become obvious if she looked into those amber eyes or glanced at those blood red lips.

"Very well. I could use a rinse."

Footsteps grew further and further away and just as the distant closing of the bathroom door sounded, Robin finished the last of the dishes, turned off the water and sank to the floor. She had not anticipated how difficult it would be to have the mayor so close, to have her around for an indefinite period of time; how difficult it would be to keep herself in check. Robin had flirted and teased the mayor shamelessly and she wasn't sure how much more she could get away with, never once entertaining the idea that maybe this would be exactly as hard for Regina.

A few rooms over, Regina turned the knob in the shower to the coldest temperature that she could stand. She had been on edge since before dinner when the blonde's stomach had brushed against her backside. This idea of staying with the other woman until Regina's magic returned seemed to be both increasingly horrid and undeniably enticing to the brunette, the more time she spent with the thief - the _archer_.

* * *

When Regina had deemed her hair tame enough she headed back to the living room where she found Robin sitting on the floor once again, two glasses of wine sitting on a nearby end table.

When the blonde heard Regina situate herself on the floor, she tossed her phone on the couch that the women were leaning against. "I poured you a glass," she said needlessly as she smiled at the other woman's damp hair, droplets of water still dripping from the ends of her dark, nearly black hair, onto her bare shoulders. "I hope that's all right."

"Of course," Regina replied before reaching for the glass closest to her, noticing they were both full. "Though you didn't have to wait for me, Miss Lockesly."

"I thought we'd toast," Robin replied charmingly.

The brunette's dark brow raised slightly. "To what?"

"To your safety, of course."

Regina studied the other woman, who always seemed to have a bright smile just for her, and decided that for whatever reason, and for so long, this woman wanted her _safe_. And so she raised her glass and, surprising even herself, said, "And to my protector."

Robin's smile only grew as she raised her own glass to clink against Regina's. They both sipped generously from their glasses before lowering them and finally looking away from each other.

After a moment of silence, just resting in each other's presence, Regina's curiosity only grew. When she spoke, she spoke so quietly Robin strained to hear her clearly. "Why do care for my safety?" The brunette raised her head to lock eyes with the swirling pools of green and blue that met her imploring gaze. "You're going so far as to ensure it yourself," the question lingering in the air between them.

"You _know _why," Robin replied as she had earlier.

"No, I truly don't." When that strawberry blonde head of hair shook slightly before looking away into her glass, Regina continued. "I know that you've always cared for me. I just haven't ever been able to figure out _why_. And now, since the curse has broken, I have to say I've noticed your absence around town." She saw a distinct furrow form between sandy blonde eyebrows. "I had figured you were like the rest; that once you'd remembered… everything," Regina struggled to keep speaking through all the memories and regrets in her mind. "But that isn't the case, or you would have turned me away the second you saw me on your porch."

"My sweat soaked shirt did give me pause," Robin tried to joke.

"Miss Lockesly," the mayor implored so softly that Robin knew immediately she wouldn't be able to avoid Regina's questions.

The blonde released a long sigh, taking the time to gather her courage. "I've cared for you since the moment I saw you," she spoke quietly but clearly, not hearing the older woman's breath catch slightly. "When I met you on the road that day, I had no idea who you were. I thought you were simply wealthy, it never occurred to me that the woman I was looking at the was the Evil Queen. Surely, I thought, someone so beautiful couldn't be the same woman everyone feared; the same woman that killed without thought."

Regina's eyes filled with tears that she refused to let fall. Thinking about her past had never been easy but hearing the things she'd done from the lips of someone who cared for her despite the truth she was speaking? The former queen wanted to sob: For the lives she had taken, for the life that was taken from her, for the sweet woman before her, protecting her.

"And later, when I learned that you were indeed the Evil Queen, I found myself… _trying _to care. Trying to be angry that you had clearly tricked me into something, though I couldn't figure out what. But what other reason would you have to be so kind to me?" Robin continued her explanation, oblivious to the single tear sliding down a tanned cheek. "But nothing ever happened to me, no tricks. And then the curse happened," The blonde chuckled slightly. "And I was enamored of you all over again."

This time the mayor could not hold back her quiet sob and she knew Robin had heard as the younger woman's head snapped up and her face contorted in sympathy and embarrassment at admitting these things head on. But she continued on.

"Here in Storybrooke, you've always tried to be dismissive of me, like you are with everyone else, but every once in a while… there's a little smirk tugging at your lips, or I'll catch you smiling, completely carefree. Like you think of me as some ridiculously amusing child and I wanna see that smile on your face all the time."

"_Why_," Regina asked through another soft sob.

"Because I've always seen _you_, Regina. I've always seen something so unbearably lonely inside of you and I love that I can make you forget about it with a stupid joke or by shamelessly flirting with you," she explained, the last part spoken with a giggle.

And finally, the mayor laughed as well, through her tears. "You are _so _shameless."

Both women laughed together, all of the sadness and bitterness fading away again as they finished their wine.

"Wow," Robin sighed out. "I need another glass after that. You?" She raised her brow, already trying to flirt again.

But Robin's expression fell flat and her eyes grew dark when the older woman raised her own eyebrow. _Always such a seductive little move_, Robin thought before Regina held out her empty glass to the archer, slowly licked her lips and growled out a, "_Please_."

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**AN2: So that's that for now. If you'd like to read more please let me know. This took me almost two weeks to write so please don't feel ignored if I take a while to update. Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated when constructive.**


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